The Muses of Playboy Photographer Douglas Kirkland

Whether he was photographing Marilyn Monroe wrapped seductively in bed sheets or Robert De Niro jamming hard on a sax, Douglas Kirkland has always had an eye for capturing his muses in their element

Art & Architecture May 12, 2017


Last month, we spoke with photographer and former Playboy contributor Douglas Kirkland in the days leading up to his 50-year retrospective in Los Angeles, which featured iconic images of everyone from a sun-kissed Brigitte Bardot playing cards on a Mexico floor in 1965, to a toothy Jack Nicholson gripping his Oscar statuette in ’75. The following collection includes a combination of photographs from Kirkland’s recent show at Mouche Gallery, multiple shots from the then-27-year-old-photographer’s famous night with Marilyn Monroe, who was featured on the 25th Anniversary of Look magazine in 1961, images from Kirkland’s new book, Freeze Frame, and exclusive images of actress Margot Kidder, who Kirkland shot in 1975, from the Playboy Archive.

01-Ann Margret on Motorcycle 37x47-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Swedish actress Ann-Margret rips through the Nevada desert in 1981
02-119b John Travolta 1977 BAT 1 -2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
John Travolta, 1988
03-148 Jack with Oscar Original Scan 1 -2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Jack Nicholson in “Oscar” (1975)
04-Audrey Classic 11x14-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Audrey Hepburn, Paris 1965. Douglas met his wife and collaborator Francoise Kirkland more than five decades ago on the set of one of Hepburn’s films.
05-Monroe MM 01 Classic 16x20-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Marilyn Monroe, Hollywood, 1961
06-Jeanne Moreau in Surf-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
French ingenue and *Playboy* model Jeanne Moreau photographed by Kirkland in the Mexican surf
07-1975 03 Margot Kidder by Douglas Kirkland 02-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
An arresting shot of actress Margot Kidder from her 1975 *Playboy* pictorial.
08-Andy Warhol 20x24-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Director Paul Morissey, Andy Warhol, James Forth and Joe Dalessandro at the Chateau Marmont (Los Angeles, 1970)
09-Brigitte Bardot Mexico 1965-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Brigitte Bardot, Mexico (1975)
10-Cher at Venice Beach CA-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Cher, Venice Beach, CA (1979)
11-John Lennon Spain 1966-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
John Lennon, Spain (Rolls Royce), 1966
12-Charlies Angels 8x10-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Charlie’s Angels, 1976
13-212b Mick Jagger 07 1 -2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Mick Jagger, Mexico City (1983)
14-Jack Nicholson16x20-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Jack Nicholson
15-Jeanne Moreau 1965 01B-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Jeanne Moreau
16-Michael Caine 1967 embed01
Michael Caine, 1967
17-Sophia Loren 20X24-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Sophia Loren
18-Titanic 1996 Dance Leo Kate-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio dancing on the set of the *Titanic *(1996)
19-Taylor and Burton 16x20-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
20-NY NYRobert DeNiro 1978 SHIFTED-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Robert De Niro, New York, 1978
21-Coco Chanel Paris 1962 2-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Coco Chanel, Paris (1962)
22-Charlie Chaplin and Sophia Loren London 1966 A Countess From Hong Kong -2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Charlie Chaplin and Sophia Loren, on the set of *A Countess From Hong Kong* (1966)
23-Brigitte Bardot Sepia 16x16-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Brigitte Bardot, Mexico 1965
24-222 Out of Africa 1985 BAT 1 -2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
Meryl Streep on the set of *Out of Africa*, 1985
25-ABC XYZ-2880-Douglas-Kirkland-2880
ALPHABET featuring Erika Lemay, by Douglas and Francoise Kirkland

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